"We are handling it properly."
"I am trying to protect the company from unnecessary panic."
Victor leaned forward.
"Are you protecting the company, Anthony, or are you protecting yourself?"
The question hung between them.
Anthony's face changed.
Only slightly, but enough.
"That's an insulting thing to ask."
"Then give me an answer that makes it unnecessary."
Anthony lowered his voice.
"Someone is trying to create trouble. You know how these things work. People find a document, remove it from context, and use it to damage a reputation."
"Who is trying to create trouble?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you so certain?"
Anthony's fingers tightened around the folder.
For the first time, Victor noticed that his old friend was not looking directly at him.
He was looking toward the restaurant entrance.
Victor followed his gaze.
Elena had just returned from the kitchen carrying a tray.
She passed a nearby table without noticing them.
Anthony watched her until she disappeared behind a partition.
Then he looked back at Victor.
"Who gave you this?"
"A waitress."
Anthony's face became still.
"Which waitress?"
"Elena Carter."
The silence that followed told Victor more than any explanation could have.
Anthony had recognized the name.
He tried to conceal it, but Victor had known him too long to miss the change in his expression.
"Do you know her?" Victor asked.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
Victor closed the folder.
"Then you will have no problem explaining why you reacted as though you had just seen a ghost."
Anthony forced a smile.
"I am tired, Victor. I have spent fourteen years cleaning up problems for this organization. Forgive me if I am not delighted to discover that a restaurant employee is collecting confidential financial records."
Victor's voice became colder.
"You should be delighted if those records prove that someone has been stealing from us."
"Unless the records are fabricated."
"Are they?"
Anthony stood.
"I will review them tomorrow."
Victor did not move.
"Sit down."
Anthony hesitated.
For a brief moment, neither man spoke.
Then Anthony slowly returned to his chair.
Victor had seen fear in his eyes.
It was not the fear of an innocent man who had been wrongly accused.
It was the fear of someone who had just realized that a carefully prepared lie might no longer be enough.
Chapter 4: Elena's Secret
Elena finished her shift shortly before midnight.
She changed out of her uniform, placed her apron in her locker, and checked her phone.
There were three missed calls from an unknown number.
A message followed.
You should have left the folder alone.
She read it twice.
Then she deleted nothing.
Instead, she took a screenshot and forwarded it to a trusted contact.
Her brother, Michael Carter, worked as a mechanic at a small garage on the western side of the city. He was thirty-one, practical, stubborn, and far less patient than Elena when it came to people who threatened his family.
He answered her call immediately.
"Elena? What's wrong?"
"Someone sent me a message."
"What kind of message?"
She read it aloud.
Michael was silent.
"Where are you?"
"Leaving work."
"Stay inside."
"I'm in the staff corridor."
"Then stay there. I'm coming."
"Michael, don't do anything stupid."
"I haven't even started doing anything."
"That's exactly what worries me."
Despite herself, Elena almost smiled.
Michael had always tried to protect her. When their father died, he took extra shifts at the garage so Elena could finish school. He had repaired her first car with secondhand parts and insisted that she keep the money she had saved for his birthday.
He was not a violent man.
But he had a habit of believing that every problem could be solved by standing directly in front of it.
Elena knew that approach would not work against Victor Moretti's organization.
"Listen to me," she said. "I need you to do something first."
"What?"
"Make sure the backup is still safe."
Michael's voice changed.
"You copied everything?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"And I sent a copy to someone else."
"Who?"
"I'll explain when you get here."
"Elena—"
"Michael, please. Just come."
She ended the call.
The backup she mentioned was not stored on her personal computer.
It was kept in an encrypted archive that Michael had helped her create after she received the original photograph.
The archive contained copies of the financial documents, the photograph of Daniel Reed, and a recording of a conversation Elena had overheard in the corridor outside the accounting office.
She had not intended to record anyone.
Three days earlier, she had been using her phone to leave a voice message for Michael when she heard two men arguing on the other side of a partly closed door.
One voice belonged to Anthony Bell.
The other belonged to the restaurant manager, Richard Sloan.
Anthony had been angry.
He accused Richard of allowing documents to remain accessible to ordinary staff.
Richard insisted that he had followed instructions.
Then Anthony said something that Elena had never forgotten.
"Daniel was supposed to take the blame and disappear. We cannot have another person looking at those accounts."
Elena had stopped breathing.
The recording continued for another twenty seconds.
She heard Richard ask what would happen if Daniel spoke to the police.
Anthony answered that Daniel would never get the chance.
Elena had immediately ended the recording.
She did not know whether the men realized anyone had heard them.
For the next two days, she considered taking the information to the police.
But Daniel's wife had warned her that someone had already visited her home and claimed to be investigating the disappearance. The man had asked questions about Daniel's daughter and advised her not to create unnecessary problems.